Railway car metal door



Aug. 15, 1933. H, HENRICKS 1,922,042

RILWAY CAR METAL DOOR Filed Mar-on 5, 1931 2 sheets-sheet 1A QZ@ 7, ,s

@7720677 2074; /Ll//ZT/gg; HarUZdHHen/ zo f5 Aug. l5, 1933.

' H. H. HENRlcKs RAILWAY CAR METAL DOOR Filed March 5. 1951 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 15, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICERAILWAY CAR METAL DGOR Application March 5, 1931.

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in railway car metal doors andmore particularly to improvements in the general type of sheet metal carside doors disclosed in U. S. McWilliams 5 Patent 1,742,408 of January7, 1930.

In railway car side doors, of both single and double type, the doors aresubjectedto very rough handling in the opening and closing thereof. Inthe event of any part of the door catching against or fouling the doorpost while being moved, it frequently happens that the operators usecrowbars or sledges to force the movement of the doors, with the resultthat parts are broken olf or distorted, rendering the operation of thedoors still more difficult thereafter and ultimately necescitating majorrepairs. For weather and spark sealing purposes, and also to preventtheft, it is highly desirable that the inner surfaces of the doorsaround all edges thereof be maintained as close as possible to themembers deiining the door openings when the doors-are in closedposition. In prior types of metal doors where reinforcing plates orstrips have been employed on the inner side thereof, considerabledifficulty has been lexperienced because of the reinforcing plates orstrips along the inner surfaces of the vertical edges of the doorfouling against the door posts, due to the fact that the inner edges ofsaid strips are disposed in a plane inwardly of the plane of the otherparts of the door, which serve to guide the door in its slidingmovements.

One object of my invention is to provide a slidable metal door,especially adapted for railway cars, comprised mainly of sheet metal soformed that all inside marginal portions of the sheet metal have theirinner surfaces lying in a common plane, the inner surfaces of the doorwithin said marginal portions being free from any projections orshoulders extending inwardly of said plane, whereby to avoid anypossible fouling with the door posts during operation of the door toopen and closed positions.

Another object of my invention is to provide a slidable sheet metal doorhaving vertical, strengthening corrugations along its front and rearvertical edges with iiat marginal portions outwardly thereof and bracingor bridging strips covering said corrugations secured to the main sheetmetal portions along the opposite sides of the corrugations, the innervertical edges of said strips or plates being onset laterally outward soas to avoid any laterally, inwardly projecting edges or shoulders thatmight otherwise catch against any of the stationary car parts when thedoor is being opened and closed.

Serial No. 520,249

Another object of my invention is to provide a sheet metal door havingbracingv plates or strips along its top, bottom and vertical edges onthe inner side thereof, wherein said top and bottom plates serve toguide the door on its innersurface and wherein all other portions of theside plates or strips and door proper are disposed either iiush with orlaterally outwardly below the plane of said top and bottom plates tothereby eliminate any possible interference or fouling with the doorpost or other fixed car parts during movements ofthe door.

A still further object of my inventionris to provide a sheet metal doorhaving edge reinforcingv plates or strips along the top, bottom andvertical edges on the inner surface thereof, wherein the marginalportions of said plates or strips all lie in a common plane, limitingthe lateral inward movement of the door with reference to the xed carstructure, all other parts of the door proper and plates within the areadefined by said marginal portions lying in a plane laterally outwardlyVoffset so as to avoid bearing thereof against the door posts duringclosing and opening movements of the door.

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appear from thedescription and claims hereinafter following. l

In the drawings, forming a part of this speciiication, Figure 1 is aside, elevational View of a portion of a box car, showing myimprovements incorporated in a single side door thereon. Figure 2 is ahorizontal, sectional view, upon an enlarged scale, corresponding to thesection line 2 2 of Figure 1, parts being broken away to better Yaccommodate the iigure on the sheet. Figure `3 is a broken, vertical,sectional view upon an enlarged scale, corresponding to the section line3 3 of Figurev 1. And Figure 4 is an interior, elevational view upon anenlarged scale of one lower corner portion of the door showing myimprovements more in detail.

In said drawings, the box car is shown as having a side door opening,dened by vertical Z-bar side posts 10 and 11 and threshold 12. The doorlintel may be of any desired construction and usually will comprise aZ-bar side plate 13 and suitable inner and outer retaining guide bars orstrips 14. Associated with each of the door posts is a wood iiller 15and nailing strip 16, the fillers preferably being protected by metalsheathing 17.

As customary, the front door post 11 has secured thereto a combinedvertical stop and weather spark sealing element 18, the latterpreferably being in the form of an angle having its ,medlata Vvided ontheV Corrugzw the door, el C by lugatons e a horiz ntal, and l'mngcon'TQ-o," rugatons 24 and 25; Zeni-a1 solang-ation 2 281-28, which mercCalv corr.1gaons 2 are extended ,latein nai main plane of embodiment shohung izype, to the door new: :feller-Cal 'ing .o 'B0- 30 adapted atsuitable interv usual che 3a deelmA prevezx o1 of the door away from perood, the door ets 236-36 coopera bars 14. 23o L The Veltca edge doorproper are so loca nal portions 37 and of 13a-nels and correspondingwill be left the top an edges of "che door.

provided with a gnal portion 37, e. engage the front; doof stop l5 anda. Weather Seal, said foar S' inclined in Figure 2. At secured thereto awe tcal and spark sealing element el 1y and ,ldly incline-: with theflange 2l when t fly sho4 its flanges overle the sealing eement 41. 24and 25 may be interior; section. elemente el- 44 'rivets or otherwe.

horizontally bridging strip the door in its opening and closingmovements, and it is, therefore, impossible for either inner verticaledge of the plates 47 or 48 to engage the door posts or for any centralportion of the door panels proper to engage therewith. At the same time,it will be observed that the door is adaptedto lie closely against thedoor posts when'in closed position and during all opening and closingInovernents thereof, thus eliminating excessive spacing or clearancewhich would militate against proper sealing of the door against weather,sparks and theft when in closed position.

I have herein shown and describedwhat I now consider the preferredmanner of carrying out the invention, but the same is illustrated onlyand all changes and modications are contemplated that come within thescope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

l. In a sliding door of the type having a main portion of sheet metalhaving outwardly disposed, integral, vertical corrugations near theedges thereof and flat marginal portions beyond the corrugations in theoriginal plane of the sheet metal; bridging plates extending over saidcorrugations on the inner side of the door and secured to the sheetmetal along the opposite sides of the corrugations, the main sheet metalportions, inwardly of the corrugations, being laterally outwardly offsetwhere said plates are secured thereto, whereby the outer marginalvertical portions of said plates are disposed in a plane laterallyinwardly of the plane of the inner vertical edges of said plates.

2. In a sliding door of the type having a main portion of sheet metalhaving laterally outwardly disposed, strengthened indentations therein,including vertical edge corrugations; horizontal top and bottoin andvertical side reinforcing plates secured to the inner face of said mainsheet metal portion, said top and bottom plates and the outer verticaledge marginal portions of said side plates all lying in a common planeconstituting the inside guiding plane of the door, the inner verticaledge portions of said side plates and the central areas of the mainsheet metal portion all lying in a plane laterally outwardly offset fromsaid first mentioned plane.

3. In a sliding door of the type having a main portion of sheet metalhaving vertically extending edge corrugations and horizontalcorrugations merging at their ends therewith, said main portion havingflat margins around all edges outwardly of the corrugations and in theoriginal plane of the sheet; horizontally extending top and bottomreinforcing plates on the inner side of said main portion; and verticalside plates on the inner side of saidmain portion, all of said platesbeing secured along their outer edges to said flat marginal portions ofsaid inain portion, the sheet metal of the main portion between saidhorizontal corrugations and inwardly of the vertical corrugations, beinglaterally outwardly offset at least the thickness of said plates and thevertical inner edges of said side plates being secured to said offsetportions, whereby said top, bottom and outermost vertical edge portionsof the side plates lie in a common plane, which is the innermost andinside guiding plane of the door.

4. In a slidable door of the type having a main portion of sheet metalhaving strengthening indentations therein; a reinforcing plate extendingalong the bottom edge of said main portion on the inner side thereof andsecured thereto; and

reinforcing angle bar along the bottom edge of the door, saidbar havingone of its flanges disposed between and secured to the lowermost edgeportions of said reinforcing plate and sheet metal comprising the mainportion and its other fiange extending voutwardly below the bottom edgeof said main portion.

5. In a slidable door of the type having a main portion of sheet metalhaving strengthening indentations therein, including vertically disposedcorrugations adjacent the edges thereof; top and bottom reinforcingplates secured to the inner face of said main portion, said platesextending the full width of the door; and vertically disposed, sidereinforcing plates secured to theinner face of said main portion, saidside plates extending between said top and bottom plates and havingtheir outer vertical edge portions in the same plane as said top andbottom plates, the inner vertical edge portions of said side platesbeing deflected laterally outwardly from said plane of the top andbottom plates.

6. In a slidable door of the type having a main portion of sheet metalhaving strengthening indentations therein, including vertically disposedcorrugations adjacent the edges thereof; top and bottom reinforcingplates secured to the inner face of said main portion, `said platesextending the full width of the door; vertically disposed, sidereinforcing plates secured to the inner face of said main portion, saidside plates extending between said top and bottom plates and havingtheir outer vertical edge portions in the same plane as said top andbottom plates, the inner vertical edge portions of said side platesbeing deflected laterally outwardly from said plane of the top andbottom plates; and reinforcing bars along some of the edges of said doorand secured to the outer side of said main portion.

7. In a railway car, horizontally slidable type metal door having a mainportion comprised of a plurality of sheet metal panels secured togetherby overlapped joints and provided with integral, strengtheningindentations therein disposed laterally outwardly from the originalplane of the sheets; top and bottom sheet metal plates secured to theinner side of said main portion along the top and bottom edges thereof,said plates being adapted to bear against xed portions of the carstructure to function as guiding surfaces for the door during operationthereof; and vertically extending side sheet metal plates also securedto the inner side of said main portion along the front and rear verticaledges thereof, the attached inner vertical edge portions of said sideplates being laterally outwardly offset with reference to the planedefined by said top and bottom plates, whereby said inner vertical edgesof said side plates are prevented from fouling the xed car parts duringopening and closing of the door.

8. In a slidable door having a main portion comprised. of sheet metalprovided with top and bottom, outwardly disposed, horizontalcorrugations incorporated therein; horizontally extending reinforcingplates secured on the inner side of said main portion and covering saidtop and bottom horizontal corrugations respectively; and verticallyarranged reinforcing plates secured on the inner side of said mainportion adjacent the vertical edges of the door and extending betweensaid horizontal reinforcing plates, the inner edge portions of saidvertical plates being laterally outwardly offset between said top andouJwaldyV offset from said plane of the top and 1 reinforcing plates.

sdnff 61.901' of the type having a, m Liu est metal. Am l'lgheu sheetmeta ical p1 1 edges on he nner face of and se- 'z ln pmnn, thennel suCea of al portions of said pates lying vial e c0115* f guidledoor, ponCenter correi. u1 of muy 'g plane 0i the doof.

Cil

